Artwork by Jessica Bell and her 2 sons, Aiden, 11 and Isaac, 8.
Welcome to Episode 7 in my 2024 Monday Music Matters “Song-A-Week” series of stories in memory and in honour of my daughter, Kait.
Today’s feature song is “Dreamwalk”, an original instrumental composition she wrote in her late teens.
Song Link: Dreamwalk
Kait was known in our area as a fabulous singer and even won a Rising Star competition in 2010 for her vocal talent and ability to accompany herself on piano. She sang “Zombie” by the Cranberries and nailed it. It become one of her most requested songs everywhere she sang.
But Kait was also an accomplished pianist as well. She studied piano as well as learned to play by ear so the combination of the two gave her accelerated skills in learning new songs. I was always amazed at the variety of styles that she could play and the speed at which she played some of the songs – real show stopper tunes.
One of the ways she coped with her cancer treatments was to play sometimes 6 to 8 hours a day. There was never enough time for her to learn all she wanted to learn. It was a way she released her anxiety, soothed and expressed herself. It was such a passion for her.
And somewhere in the middle of learning, practicing and playing music that she loved written by Chopin, Mozart, Hisaishi, she also composed her own original songs.
“Dreamwalk” is one of them which started out as 3 different musical ideas she had. Then one year, I bought some time blocks in a recording studio for her Birthday & Christmas presents. She and the producer/engineer worked on tying all the elements together of those 3 songs which resulted in “Dreamwalk”. I think this song would be fabulous as a soundtrack for a movie! It really carries the listener away on a sonic journey.
And it makes me cry every time I hear it. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I do.
You can read the first 6 stories in this Series by clicking on each of the links below:
Malaika
Mother Goose Groove
Hello Sunshine
Lalaby Waltz
Little One
Kait’s Waltz
The first story, “Malaika”, gives you a bit of a background of why I embarked on this 52 week journey.
Here is a link to Kait’s Comfort Kits which were created to bring some comforts of home to long term hospital patients with a focus on cancer patients
Website Link: Kait’s Comfort Kits